Presenting Brian Solis

“The State of Social Media”

It’s Time To Go Social!

Mark Schmulen General Manager of Social Media Constant Contact

Email: mschmulen@constantcontact.com

Blog: http://blogs.constantcontact.com/

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Meet Brian Solis

What is Social Media Marketing?

• An introduction to a new “type” of consumer• A window into the thoughts and experiences of

customers• Insight into new channels and incentives to

reach and motivate customers• A dedicated approach that complements

existing marketing practices• An opportunity to connect with prospects and

customers to build meaningful relationships• The ability to turn social networking into

commerce, loyalty, and advocacy

Social vs. Traditional Marketing

Social Marketing• Social

Reviews/Ratings• Conversations• Networking• Advertising• Group couponing• Checking-in• Web video• Word of Mouth

Traditional Marketing• Reviews• Local directories• Online guides• Advertising

– Cable/Local/Broadcast• Mail/Email• Lists• Coupons/Flyers• Display• Word of Mouth

Social vs. Traditional Marketing

Social vs. Traditional Marketing

What are the Benefits of SMM?

• A greater community of advocates who engage online and in the real world

• Insight into developing better products and services

• Platforms to communicate value, expertise and differentiation

• Empathy…the ability to feel a consumer experience and to live a “day in the life of”

• Increased social capital online and stature offline

• New customers and commerce• Goodwill, recognition, reciprocity

Social media adoption among U.S. small businesses doubled in the

past year from 12% to 24%

Facebook

Twitter

The State of Popular Social Networks

Facebook has over 500MM users

Mobile has over 100MM users

YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine

Over 9B streams per month

Twitter has over 160MM registered users with over

100MM tweets a day

Foursquare has 3.5MM users adding 20,000+ every day

If a Conversation

Takes Place Online &

You’re Not There to

Hear It, Did It Really

Happen?

It’s not what you say, it’s what they say that counts.

Engagement steers perception and experiences, drives word of mouth, and increases sales…

Customers Become Your Advertisers

63% of small businesses say word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective way to market their business and find new customers

80% of consumers stated that following a brand on Twitter results in referrals

60% of online shoppers already use social media sites and networks regularly

56% of those online shoppers friend or follow retailers…

Hello, are you there?

Why do consumers follow businesses online?

1. Affinity

2. Allegiance

3. Invitations to special events

4. Exclusive offers/promotions

Facebook is Your Brand’s New Website in Social Media

The Wall is “The Conversation” and a Source of the Social Effect

Tabs are the “Web Pages” for Facebook

F-Commerce (Generate Revenue)

Custom Tabs/Applications Encourage Interaction

Photos Bring Your Business to Life

Twitter Connects You to the Now Web

Search Uncovers Experiences and Opportunities

Influencers Drive Activity

FourSquare Connects Online + Offline

Special Offers Drive

Mayors are Your New Ambassadors

Tips Help Consumers Enliven Your Business and Everything Around It

Introduce a Click to ActionCustomers are Rewarded by You to Encourage Interaction

• Most recent visitors• Most frequent visitors• Times of day for

check-ins• Number of unique

visitors• Histogram of daily

check-ins• Gender• Check-ins also

broadcast to Twitter and Facebook

Learn More About Who’s Checking-In

Blogs Are Your Place to Shine • Demonstrates expertise and what makes you

special• Boosts SEO• Guides decisions• Helps consumers gain insight and answers

Establish Expertise and Leadership

Establish Expertise and Leadership

Blogging Tips• Brand the blog as an extension of the site or as

a distinct entity– Yourdomain.com/blog– BriansTipsforSmallBiz.com

• Demonstrate expertise• Use posts to help people answer questions or

make decisions• Keep it relevant, not commercial• Make it a hub for all you share on the social

web– Videos– Pictures– Deals

• Connect posts to other bloggers• Pitch your stories!

YouTube Brings Your Story to Life

Thought Leadership and Expertise

Embeds Expand Reach and Your Story

Social Video Tips

• Customize a channel on YouTube• Title, tag, and describe each video with

important keywords• Engage inside and out of the YouTube Network

– Promote your videos in other mediums and networks• Use the free analytics tools• Make your videos useful and informative

– Keep a rhythm– Quality is key

• Feature customers

Review Sites: Listen, Learn and Become Part of the Process

Reviews Tell Your Story…How Will You Shape them?

Reviews are Pervasive…

They Also Reveal Opportunities to Improve Experiences

Craig Stoll, co-owner of Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco, outfits his servers in T-shirts emblazoned with quotes from the restaurant's harshest critics. A diner may be greeted by a waitress wearing a shirt proclaiming, "This place sucks."

Eric Kirsammer, owner of Quimby's Bookstore in Chicago, avoids engaging his critics openly online. Instead, Kirsammer uses negative reviews as a tool to improve customer service.

Sarah Dunbar, owner of Pretty Penny, a vintage clothing boutique in Oakland, California, makes a point of responding privately to each critical review.

Social Commerce Creates a Frenzy

Your Keys to Success in Social Media

Top 10 Ways to Excel in Social Media

10. Competitive intelligence

9. Insight and performance

8. Development of relationships through engagement

7. Lead generation

6. Customer service

5. Coupons/Discounts/Promotion

4. Acquiring followers and growing communities

3. eCommerce

2. Increasing awareness and demand

1. Word of mouth

Special Offers

• California Tortilla (@caltort), a chain of 39 Mexican restaurants based in Rockville, MD, sends coupon passwords via Twitter– Customers must say at checkout to

redeem the offer

• Chris Manna’s Woodhouse Day Spa tweets special discounts and offers for massages and manicures everyday– Twitter is a popular source of new

customers

Sales

• Coffee Groundz (@coffeegroundz) uses the direct message channel on Twitter to receive and prepare orders

• Reports 20 to 30% increased sales and market share

Word of Mouth Marketing

• Moonfruit offered 10 Macbook Pros and iPod Touches to celebrate its 10th anniversary– $15,000 investment

• Contestants were asked to send tweets using the hashtag #moonfruit to enter the competition– Randomness was encourage

• One month later, site traffic was up 300% and sales increased by 20%

• Landed on the first results page on Google for “free website builder”

Customer Service

• MightyLeaf Tea uses Facebook and GetSatisfaction to answer customer questions

• United Linen in Bartlesville, Okla. manages expectations via Twitter– When a major snowstorm hit the

area, UL used Twitter to let customers know deliveries would be delayed

Direct Sales

• Brian Simpson (@BSIMI) helped The Roger Smith in New York monitor dialogue related to NY hotel stays and travel

• Offers specials to attract new guests• Uses Twitter search to identify prospects and

offer them a 10 percent discount on the lowest-rate rooms

• Twitter and other forms of social media have netted between $15,000 to $20,000 in additional revenue

Mobile and Geo Location Marketing

• Local businesses use social tools to identify customers within the area

• Kogi (LA) and The Crème Brulee Cart (SF)broadcast mobile locations and offers– Each stop is greeted by lines of

customers• Kogi is now considered the world’s

first “viral eatery” and has over 76,000 followers

• @cremebruleecart has over 14,000 followers

Advice, Help, Direction

• @homedepot seeks individuals who are tackling home projects to offer tips and instructions

• BestBuy’s @Twelpforce helps consumers with decisions related to consumer electronics

• H&R Block helps people seeking tax and finance advice

• @NAKEDPizza offers advice, answers questions, related and unrelated to pizza– Twitter made “the cash register ring”

• The Wydler Brothers Realty Team offers insights in the Washington, D.C. market

Events• Coffee Groundz hosts "tweetups”

– Attracts hundreds of customers • RedWire, an online collaboration provider, uses

Twitter to spread the word about Wired Wednesdays– A weekly gathering of entrepreneurs looking to share

ideas• Milwaukee burger joint AJ Bombers hosts

Tweetups and FourSquare events to get customers Tweeting and Checking-in

Rewards

• Berry Chill (@YogiJones) uses “Sweet Tweets” to reward its followers with free yogurts

• Monique’s Chocolates in Palo Alto acquired 50 new customers and over 100 redemptions for a special “buy one get one” for truffles via FourSquare– Redemptions converted into 25% repeat

business– Compared to an ad in a local paper, it

earned 1 new customer for the cost of $300

Bringing the Experience to Life

• Umi Restaurant in San Francisco tweets about the fresh fish of the night with colorful hunger-inducing descriptions– Gets five new customers a night from Twitter

• Scott Seaman’s Bed and Breakfast operates in a town of 1,500 residents– Uses TweetDeck to talk to people who tweet

with keywords related to this business– Shares experiences to lure new customers

A 360 Approach to Social Media

Tom Bihn: A Look at a Complete Approach• Seattle-based Tom Bihn is a small business that

makes and sells travel bags– Competes against very big companies

• Uses social media and engagement spur word of mouth

• Uses profiles in multiple networks to connect with customers and prospects

• “Anytime a company is given more ways to directly communicate with customers, it’s an opportunity for growth”

Tom Bihn: Blogs

• Blog provides a centralized source for information

• Features customer stories• Spotlights real world use• Solves problems and answers

questions through posts• Demonstrates expertise

Tom Bihn: Flickr

• Not just a catalog• Showcases products and uses

– Packing techniques and tips• Involves customers in feedback and design

– Creates products based on insight• Tagging, describing and titling pictures helps

them show up in customer searches

Tom Bihn: Facebook

• Invites people to join them on Facebook• Interacts with the community• Offers specials/deals• Shares reviews• Spotlights customers• Hosts scheduled chats to answer questions

Tom Bihn: YouTube

• Shares videos of products and demonstrates usefulness

• Uses “story telling” to describe products

Tom Bihn: Twitter

• Includes a nice mix of – Retweets– Customer experiences– Company mentions– Thank you messages for customers– Announcements of new products and updates– Travel regulation notices from the Transportation

Safety Administration– Links and photos from the company’s blog

Everything Starts with Listening and Research

Use keywords related to your business (not just company & competitor names

Local merchants…include location in your search

Research

Run a search for keywords in Facebook to see what turns up

Engage outside of your domains

Word of Mouth doesn’t work,

tell everyone you know

Reach Out to Bloggers and Tastemakers

• Find bloggers who write about your space or related experiences

• Assess their “angle”• Create a story that’s special to them• Package an experience that inspires them to

share with their audience• Create “social objects” that help them tell their

story – Video– Pictures– Customer story

A Word About Your Website

Website 2.0

• Social media is only part of the story• The website is a reflection of your business and

quality of service/products• You only get “one click” to make a first

impression• Complement your social activities with a site

that completes the experience• Make it easy to buy• Make it easy to contact you• Include links to social presences

Learn from the Source

Communications Tools/Dashboards

Learn from the Source

NutshellMail Email Alerts

Learn from the Source

Engagement Dashboards

Learn from the Source

Learn from the Source

Identify ways to provide value…

Become the people we want to reach…

#ThisisYourTime

@briansolis

www.briansolis.com

www.future-works.com

http://bit.ly/engageme

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www.nowisgone.com

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FridayOctober 15, 2010

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